DOJ finalizes preliminary probe on Lt. Col.

Marcelinos drug
case
shaina / March 12, 2016 / Local News, Trending Stories

The DOJ has finalized its preliminary probe in the drug case filed against Lt. Col. Marcelino

The department submitted its report for resolution after receiving the rejoinder of the suspect

Marcelino faces cases for violating anti-drug laws and the Comelec gun ban

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has finalized its preliminary investigation on the case of former Philippine Drug Enforcement
Agency (PDEA) executive Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino, who was arrested in an anti-illegal drugs raid last January.
In an article written by Mark Merueas for GMA News Online, it was disclosed that the DOJ has submitted its findings for resolution
after it received the rejoinder coming from Marcelino for the cases filed by the Philippine National Police-Anti-Illegal Drug Group
(PNP-AIDG) and the PDEA against the suspect.
Marcelino, who once headed the PDEAs Special Enforcement Service, is a member of the Philippine Marine Corps assigned as the
superintendent of the Naval Officer Candidate School in San Antonio, Zambales when he was arrested.
The military officer also claimed that he was working on a legitimate intelligence operation dubbed as Oplan Moses, which was
allegedly sanctioned by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Intelligence Service of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), despite not being part of the PDEA at the time of his arrest.
However, the Malacanang Palace has denied the claims of Marcelino; saying there is no ongoing PAOCC operation that involves
the officer.
Last February, the PNP-AIDG filed additional cases against Marcelinoafter the police agency found out that the latter carried his
personal firearm during the day of his arrest despite not possessing a gun banexemption permit from the Commission on Elections
(Comelec).
Moreover, the PNP also noted that the military officers permit to carry a personal firearm had already expired when he was arrested

Domondon: The weird case of Ex-PDEA

officer and Marine Lt. Col. Marcelino
Wednesday, February 03, 2016
By
BRICCIO CESAR DOMONDON JR.

ALLEGATIONS of a conspiracy to destroy his reputation as a top drug buster seems to be the only remaining defense being raised
by former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Special Enforcement Services Officer and Marine Lieutenant Colonel
Ferdinand Marcelino in his attempt to explicate the reason for his presence and subsequent arrest at a shabu laboratory in a
townhouse on Felix Huertas Street in Sampaloc, Manila late last month.
As far as his reputation as a drug buster is concerned, his former boss ex-PDEA Chief Dionisio Santiago was all praises in telling
the media how Marcelino campaigned aggressively, often times taking a hands on approach, in combating illegal drugs in the
country and achieving as a feather on his cap the celebrated arrest of the so called Alabang Boys.
Santiago went on further to vouch for Marcelinos integrity as a fierce anti-drugs crusader but nevertheless admitted that the latter
should be jailed if found guilty of involvement in the drug trade.
The weird part in Marcelinos case is why the heck was he inside the townhouse cum shabu laboratory when elements of the
Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (PNP-AIDG) along with members of the PDEA swooped down in the conduct of
their surprise raid of the place.
From a laymans point of view isnt it tactically safer and strategically better for an intelligence operative to conduct his surveillance
and verification of a suspected drug den from a farther vantage point - say from a curtained window of an adjacent townhouse that
provides a clear view of the shabu laboratory - than being in the exact place and premises where the drug den was located?
What is weirder is that Marcelino along with a Chinese national who is reported to be a former interpreter for the PDEA was able to
gain entrance to the townhouse cum shabu laboratory using a key to the front door.
If Colonel Marcelino was indeed conducting his own personal surveillance of the said drug laboratory and was acting as a lone wolf
in his campaign to combat illegal drugs he would have, as dictated by normal human behavior, had to have been more careful and
stealthy in going about taking a peek or monitoring the place.
Knowing that it was a clandestine drug laboratory and probably having armed men inside to protect the drugs manufactured Colonel
Marcelino should have at the very least approach the place will all customary caution as an experienced PDEA officer and military
man.
But no, it would appear as if he just walked to the front door along with his Chinese national asset and using a key went inside the
townhouse as if they owned the place. What is doubly weird is that Colonel Marcelino never disputed the claims of the PNP-AIDG
that they were surprised that he was inside the townhouse when they conducted the raid. His only defense then was to claim that he
was there to verify that there was a drug laboratory, that he was under orders from higher ups, and that someone was out to get him
and destroy his reputation as a drug buster.
The question that comes to mind is how can a celebrated top former officer of the PDEA and a Marine intelligence officer at that,
with all of his knowledge on surveillance operations, be foolhardy enough to just enter a suspected drug laboratory without benefit of
a back-up or at least some form of protection other than perhaps his belief that no one in the drug syndicate community knows him,
and that he has the key to the place.
Another question that has to be asked is if the claim of Colonel Marcelino is true that someone is really out to destroy his reputation
as a drug buster as well as his advocacy against the drug trade, would it not have been more logical and practical for him, as an
added precaution, to have conducted his verification in some other way or means other than going right into the suspected
clandestine drug laboratory?
Indeed, if there is any truth to his claim that there is a plot to destroy his reputation as a fierce advocate and aggressive campaigner
against illegal drugs, Col. Marcelino can only blame himself for committing the error of being at the wrong place and at the wrong
time.

What a tragic and unfortunate turn of events to a famous and storied career in the never ending fight against the menace of illegal
drugs in the country.

Army certifies Marcelino as part of its

intelligence network
By: Perfecto T. Raymundo, Philippines News Agency
January 26, 2016 7:11 AM

Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino after his arrest at a drug lab raid in Manila, 21 January 2016. TV5 SCREENSHOT

InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA - The Philippine Army tells the Department of Justice (DOJ) that Lt. Col. Ferdinand L. Marcelino, an official of the Philippine
Marines and a former official of the Special Enforcement Services of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), is part of the
Army's Intelligence and Security Group.
Marcelino was arrested in a drug bust operation in Sta. Cruz, Manila last week.
The DOJ on Monday received a certification, dated 22 January 2016, from the Army's (PA) Intelligence and Security Group signed
by Col. Marlo Guloy.
The certification states that Marcelino was part of the intelligence information in the Intelligence and Security Group of the Philippine
Army from November 2015 to December this year in connection with the suspected members of the Philippine Army, who were
involved in the use of illegal drugs and other activities involving illegal drugs.
It added that it was pursuant to the directive of the General Headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Task Force
Moses and the Philippine Army Task Group Midas.
Marcelino last Friday asked for a preliminary investigation of his case to give him the opportunity to submit a counter-affidavit and
pieces of evidence to prove that his presence in the said laboratory of illegal drugs in Sta. Cruz, Manila was a legitimate operation.
Marcelino was arrested by the combined forces of the PDEA and the Philippine National Police-Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (PNPAIDG) on site at the illegal drugs laboratory.

A former official of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) was arrested along
with a Chinese national in a drug bust operation Thursday which yielded P320 million
worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) at a house in Manila according to
a report from Radyo Inquirer 990 AM.
Based on the report, Col. Ferdinand Marcelino, former director of the Special
Enforcement Services of PDEA and 33-year-old Yan Yi Shou, were arrested by

operatives of PDEA and the Philippine National Police at Felix Huertas corner
Batangas streets in Sta. Cruz, Manila.
The operation was granted by an arrest warrant issued by the Quezon City Regional
Trial Court which said that the house serves as a storage facility of illegal drugs.
However, it turned out that it was a large-scale clandestine laboratory where the illegal
drug is being made.
PDEA Director General Arturo Cacdac Jr., in a radio interview with Good Morning
Inquirers Arlyn dela Cruz and Jake Maderazo, said that based on initial reports, they
were able to confiscate 64 kilograms of shabu. He said that Marcelino is considered as
a suspect because he was caught with Shou during the operation.
Unfortunately he is a suspect, dahil present siya (because he was present) in a
clandestine laboratory. I supposed they know each other because they arrived in the
area together, Cacdac said.
Cacdac added that Marcelino was not on their radar or watchlist of the Philippine
National Police-Anti-Illegal Drugs Group and it was a surprise to see him in the area
of operation.
Wala talaga siya sa radar (He was not really on our radar). Its a sad story, he said.
Cacdac said he received information that Marcelino was previously with MIG 4
(Military Intelligence Group-4) of the Intelligence Service of the AFP.
Meanwhile, Marcelino denied any involvement in the drug operation.
Wala akong dapat itago, wala akong kasalanan, he told reporters.
(I have nothing to hide, I have no fault.)
Shou, meanwhile, served as an interpreter of PDEA in 2005.
Marcelino was brought to Camp Crame for further investigation.
INQUIRER.net tried to ask the Philippine Navy on Marcelinos status in the military
but could not immediately respond. With a report from Erwin Aguilo,
Radyo Inquirer/RAM
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